1️⃣Featured on ACPE Distinction Gallery at campinaexhibitions.net/distinctions-holders/artist/udayan-sankar-pal
2️⃣Accepted in 18 Percent Gray International Exhibition-2019 [exhibition.18gray.com] & featured in their eCatalog.
3️⃣Accepted in “Holy Island-6th International Art Exhibition of Sacral Motifs-2019” organized by Photo Club Kornat in Croatia [fotoklubkornat.hr] and published on their e-catalog.
4️⃣Awarded a WPG Diploma in WPG Judging of Phoenix Planet Award-2019 [ppsbdcontest.org]
5️⃣Awarded a Jury Choice Award in Rose Salon of Nano Circuit-2019 [nanocircuit.club]
8️⃣Selected for 4th IMAGINEA-The Balurghat Photo Festival-2020 [fb/ddfpc17]

1️⃣It was one of the seven images from Kulasai Dasara series that was published in PhotoMontage of Asian Photography Magazine (January 2019 Issue) as portfolio.
2️⃣Udayan’s Kulasai Dasara has been featured in 4 pages of Chiiz Magazine-Volume 22-January2019 issue along with his profile picture as contributor. This is also featured on the cover and content page. This is one of the 8 images that printed in the magazine.
3️⃣One of the equal eight winers of photography contest on Traditions and featured in Indian Photo Arts e-Magazine-Jan2019 issue [indianphotoarts.com].
4️⃣This one of the two images that shortlisted for Pixellate Photography Exhibition conducted by Photography Club of India and Tessellate and it was part of their exhibition held at Chennai Mathematical Institute on 1-3 February 2019.
5️⃣Awarded a Photo-World Silver Medal in Photo World Judging of Photowinners 1st International Circuit-2019 [photo-world.org]
6️⃣#AvTvISO in collaboration with Chiiz organized a Photo Tour to Kulasai Dasara Festival in 2019 where Udayan was one of the two mentors. His images were used in the Photo tour home page. This is one of those images. It was also used on the poster. [Link. avtviso.chiiz.com
7️⃣This is one of the 22 images of Udayan exhibited in 1st Armenian International Photo Fest-2019 at Yerevan from 24th Aug to 28th Sep. [amphotofestival.com]
8️⃣This is one of the two images that were exhibited at PIXELS in BITS Pilani-Goa on the occasion of World Photography Day-2019 organized by their Dept of Photography.
9️⃣Featured on ACPE Distinction Gallery at campinaexhibitions.net/distinctions-holders/artist/udayan-sankar-pal
1️⃣0️⃣Awarded a CM in May-2020 Monthly InstaContest organized by @fotorbit_ig [bit.ly/3gRKdA9]

*** Kulasai Dasara is the grand festival of 300 year old Kulasai Mutharammam Temple which is located at Kulasekharapatnam in Tamil Nadu. In essence, Dasara is celebrated in the 10th day after 9-day of Navaratri festival across India. However, at Kulasai, it is celebrated as a 12-days function. It is estimated that around 2.5 Million [25Lakhs] devotees visited the temple in the 2018 celebrations.

Teams are formed from each village and are sponsored by the richest family of the village or the village head. One member from this team is chosen to don the avatar of Goddess Kali, the central god in this festival. A strict condition is that only a man can dress as Kali and has to fast for 41 days. Other members dress up like other Gods or Goddesses according to their choice. During Dasara, these devotees need to dress like the god/goddess every day and have to abstain from impure thoughts and bad habits. They need to commit to being pure in body, mind and soul.

Kulasekharapatnam is a tiny coastal town with extremely high humidity and temperature. In this climate, it’s not an easy commitment to be dressed as a god in heavy costume and with bold makeup. If this was not hard enough, they fast for 41 days and carry a pot of fire in their bare hands, wear multiple weighty false arms and a pair of metal glasses with a tiny hole limiting their vision to almost zero and are surrounded by people playing drums and loud music.
I have seen some of these avatars faint out of exhaustion, heat, the frenzy around them and dehydration.

Each team roams around many villages during Dasara and perform a ritualistic dance to earn some alms. As it is quite a lucrative way of earning money, some individuals, especially kids, also dressed in godly costumes to make some easy money.

During the last day of the festival, the celebrations peak. The avatars visit the temple and on the last leg of their journey through the temple corridor, they perform a ritualistic dance in devotion to the God. To depict the anger with which Goddess Lalithambigai destroyed Magisasuran, they enter a trance like state characterized by deafening music and violent dancing.

After they have offered their prayers, they then finally go the beach behind the temple and worship the fire that they have carried in their hands. A cleansing dip follows where they take a bath and immerse all the godly belongings which made them look like God. Local kids then have fun collecting these godly avatars to play with them or keep them as a memory.

An interesting thing however is that taking a dip in the sea with all the heavy costume is a practical problem as water makes everything seem heavier. So they just stand in the sea and spray some sea water on themselves symbolically and take off their costumes post that.

Millions of visitors come to attend this event. Sometimes an entire village arrives by buses or in trucks. They pitch their tents in open grounds for three days making it look like a mini picnic complete with cooking facilities.

Local residents are also very helpful towards these visitors. They allow them to take shelter in their homes. Some families even offer water and food to these visitors.

The final day looks like a colourful carnival where thousands of teams line up in a narrow lane marching towards the temple for hours often stretching day into night. It is life-time experience to witness the event and feel their faith & dedication.

Performing rituals with fire in the Kulasai Mutharammam Temple during Kulasai Dasara.

1️⃣It was one of the seven images from Kulasai Dasara series that was published in PhotoMontage of Asian Photography Magazine (January 2019 Issue) as portfolio.
2️⃣Udayan’s Kulasai Dasara has been featured in 4 pages of Chiiz Magazine-Volume 22-January2019 issue along with his profile picture as contributor. This is also featured on the cover and content page. This is one of the 8 images that printed in the magazine.
3️⃣Awarded a FIP HM Ribbon in 1st Ujaan National Salon-2019 [ujaanclub.online]
4️⃣AvTvISO in collaboration with Chiiz organized a Photo Tour to Kulasai Dasara Festival in 2019 where Udayan was one of the two mentors. His images were used in the Photo tour home page. This is one of those images. [Link. avtviso.chiiz.com
5️⃣This is one of the 22 images of Udayan exhibited in 1st Armenian International Photo Fest-2019 at Yerevan from 24th Aug to 28th Sep. [amphotofestival.com]
6️⃣This is one of the ten image that has been featured as Udayan’s ROPA Gallery in PSA website with his profile picture and a bio after his PPSA in 2019.
7️⃣Featured on ACPE Distinction Gallery at campinaexhibitions.net/distinctions-holders/artist/udayan-sankar-pal

1️⃣Awarded PGS Diploma in Adriatic Circuit 2018-PCA Judging. [pca-exhibition.com/adriatic]
2️⃣One of the highly appreciated images of fortnightly theme contest -Waiting organised by Photography Club of Assam FB Group in Nov/Dec 2018. Link: goo.gl/3iWqXN
3️⃣Won 2nd Place in DPReview Challenge (Theme was Challenge the host) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 1Jan2019. Link: goo.gl/4qnSm9
4️⃣Udayan’s Kulasai Dasara has been featured in 4 pages of Chiiz Magazine-Volume 22-January2019 issue along with his profile picture as contributor. This is also featured on the cover and content page. This is one of the 8 images that printed in the magazine.
5️⃣Awarded an ICS Diploma in S-Kadar 2018 2nd International Photography Exhibition [skadar.fotolcinium.com] and featured on their website under Award winning images. It was also featured in their eCatalog.
6️⃣Awarded a Victory PW HM in 4th International Salon of Photography-VICTORY 2019 [victory-photo.club]
7️⃣Awarded a Salon Gold Medal in Grand Photo Salon RIVNE-2019 [grandphotosalon.com.ua]. It is also featured in their website under awarded images.
8️⃣Awarded a Digital Photo World HM in DPW WMC Circuit-2019 [Kula Judging]. Link: dpw.rs
9️⃣Udayan has earned his cMoL distinction in Feb2019 and this is one of the eight images along with his bio & profile pic published in cMoL Distinction Holders page. [masteroflight.org/1214-2]
1️⃣0️⃣Won 1st Place in DPReview Challenge (Theme was Blue) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 20Apr2019. Link: bit.ly/2KUYFLE
1️⃣1️⃣Won 2nd place in My Favourite Shot Photography Competition organised by worldphotographersclub.com in 2019 and it was featured on their website and received a Voucher Code from Zoomin worth 500/- [bit.ly/2vEUFEo]
1️⃣2️⃣AvTvISO in collaboration with Chiiz organized a Photo Tour to Kulasai Dasara Festival in 2019 where Udayan was one of the two mentors. His images were used in the Photo tour home page. This is one of those images. [Link. avtviso.chiiz.com
1️⃣3️⃣This is one of the ten image that has been featured as Udayan’s ROPA Gallery in PSA website with his profile picture and a bio after his PPSA in 2019.
1️⃣4️⃣Awarded a HPS Bronzd in ATHENS-HPS Salon 2020 [theiaap.com/hps]

1️⃣It was one of the seven images from Kulasai Dasara series that was published in PhotoMontage of Asian Photography Magazine (January 2019 Issue) as portfolio. This image was also used in contents index page.
2️⃣It was one of the two images exhibited in Click-2019 organized by MIT School of Photography [mitsop.edu.in]
3️⃣May2019 Monthly Travel Photography Contest Runner-up of travup.in and prize was Amazon GV worth INR.500/- [bit.ly/TravUp]
4️⃣This is one of the 22 images of Udayan exhibited in 1st Armenian International Photo Fest-2019 at Yerevan from 24th Aug to 28th Sep. [amphotofestival.com]
5️⃣Won D.C.Banerjee Award in 1st Creative Eye National Salon-2020 [thecreativeeye.in]

Two elderly visitors and a boy dressed up as a God is taking some rest during Kulasai Dasara.

1️⃣It has been selected as #HallaDailySnap on 5th Dec 2018 and featured on their website as cover image.
2️⃣Won 3rd Place in DPReview Challenge (Theme was Street Life) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 12Dec2018. Link: goo.gl/kzHiXF
3️⃣It was one of the seven images from Kulasai Dasara series that was published in PhotoMontage of Asian Photography Magazine (January 2019 Issue) as portfolio.
4️⃣Udayan’s Kulasai Dasara has been featured in 4 pages of Chiiz Magazine-Volume 22-January2019 issue along with his profile picture as contributor. This is also featured on the cover and content page. This is one of the 8 images that printed in the magazine.
5️⃣Awarded GPC Dpiloma in AFAN-2018 International Exhibition of Photography [afanexhibition.com]. It was also featured on their website under awarded images.
6️⃣Udaya has submitted a new year card design with this photograph in 8th FIAP New Year greetings Card Contest-2019 and that was featured o their e-catalogue.
7️⃣Awarded a GRADAC PGI HM in 4th International Salon of Photography-VICTORY 2019 [victory-photo.club]
8️⃣Won 3rd place in a Instagram based street photography contest organised by @Exposure_Travel_Photography in Jan2019 and received a medal & a certificate. Link: instagram.com/p/BtqUuLngSSw
9️⃣Awarded a Digital Photo World HM in DPW WMC Circuit-2019 [Kula Judging]. Link: dpw.rs
1️⃣0️⃣Udayan has earned his cMoL distinction in Feb2019 and this is one of the eight images along with his bio & profile pic published in cMoL Distinction Holders page. [masteroflight.org/1214-2]
1️⃣1️⃣It is one of the 60 photographs that GPU [gpuphoto.com] has framed and donated to Home for children without parental care-Dom Bjelave in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina for the permanent exhibition in 2019 [Link: goo.gl/X2YvMM].
1️⃣2️⃣Exhibited in Mahaksh-2019, National Level Photography Competition & Exhibition RAIT Kalaraag [facebook.com/mahaksh2018].
1️⃣3️⃣Selected as photo of the month in Decemer 2018 and featured in their website at creationearth.com [Link: goo.gl/q8x9ho]
1️⃣4️⃣Awarded a WPAI Bronze in WPAI-NewDelhi Judging of SAM Print Circuit-2019 [wpaidelhi.com]
1️⃣5️⃣AvTvISO in collaboration with Chiiz organized a Photo Tour to Kulasai Dasara Festival in 2019 where Udayan was one of the two mentors. His images were used in the Photo tour home page. This is one of those images. [Link. avtviso.chiiz.com
1️⃣6️⃣Awarded a WPAI Bronze in SCC-Ratlam Judging of SAM Print Circuit-2019. [wpaidelhi.com]
1️⃣7️⃣This is one of the 22 images of Udayan exhibited in 1st Armenian International Photo Fest-2019 at Yerevan from 24th Aug to 28th Sep. [amphotofestival.com]
1️⃣8️⃣This is one of the ten image that has been featured as Udayan’s ROPA Gallery in PSA website with his profile picture and a bio after his PPSA in 2019.
1️⃣9️⃣Featured on HonCPE Gallery at campinaexhibitions.net/distinctions-holders/honorary or bit.ly/33Gruji
2️⃣0️⃣Chairman Choice Award in IRIS 3rd All India Digital Salon-2020 [irisphotofoundation.com]

A local boy collected hands of Goddess Kali to take away as memento during Kulasai Dasara.

1️⃣It was one of the seven images from Kulasai Dasara series that was published in PhotoMontage of Asian Photography Magazine (January 2019 Issue) as portfolio.
2️⃣Awarded a FIAP HM Ribbon in PHA International Photo Contest-2019 [photohunters.in]
3️⃣Awarded a Certificate of Merit in 1st Ujaan National Salon-2019 [ujaanclub.online]
4️⃣Won 2nd Place in DPReview Challenge (Theme was Silhouette) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 24Apr2019. Link: bit.ly/2vkIrRi
5️⃣Awarded a WPAI Silver in WPAI-NewDelhi Judging of SAM Print Circuit-2019 [wpaidelhi.com]
6️⃣AvTvISO in collaboration with Chiiz organized a Photo Tour to Kulasai Dasara Festival in 2019 where Udayan was one of the two mentors. His images were used in the Photo tour home page. This is one of those images. [Link. avtviso.chiiz.com
7️⃣Awarded a WPAI Gold in NPC-Pilakhuwa Judging of SAM Print Circuit-2019. [wpaidelhi.com]
8️⃣Used on a poster to promote Udayan’s interview with Saurabh Chatterjee in 2020.